Phillips Exeter to display special art collection

100 pieces on exhibit at Lamont Gallery

EXETER — From Tuesday, June 25 to Wednesday, July 31, the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will present "Dust & Discovery: Works from the Lamont Gallery Collection," an exhibition inspired by "the cabinet of curiosities" (a forerunner to the modern museum).

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Posted Jun. 28, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Posted Jun. 28, 2013 at 2:00 AM

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EXETER — From Tuesday, June 25 to Wednesday, July 31, the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will present "Dust & Discovery: Works from the Lamont Gallery Collection," an exhibition inspired by "the cabinet of curiosities" (a forerunner to the modern museum).

The exhibition will include close to 100 pieces, including works by John James Audobon, Alexander Calder, Amanda de Leon and Kiyoshi Saito.

Works from the exhibition, which spans from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) to the 1980s, will include paintings on canvas, silkscreens, wood carvings, poster, glass and skulls. Selections mounted on a designated wall will rotate new pieces each week.

A reception will be held on Wednesday, July 10, 5-6:30 p.m. The Lamont Gallery is in the Frederick R. Mayer Art Center on Tan Lane. All events are free and open to the public.

The works are being shown as is, as they were found in storage—stains, tears and all—to raise such questions as: What defines a collection? How are collections built, maintained and shared with audiences? What is the function of a collection within an educational institution? How are objects preserved to pass along to the next generation?

Though not officially a collecting gallery, the Lamont Gallery maintains a noteworthy collection of art and other objects that were donated or purchased: gifts from alumni and friends of PEA, or items left behind by departing faculty or students.

While the gallery has donation information on some of these pieces, other pieces remain a mystery; important details are missing, including the artist's name or type of material. Visitors will be invited to offer their own insights into the works displayed, and share their thoughts about what and why they collect.

Items from other individual collections, including those of PEA Art Instructors Carla Collins and Becky Barsi, as well as PEA alumnus Chris Woerner '63, will be on display, to explore questions such as: Why do people collect? Does the value of a collection rest in its financial worth or sentimental meaning to the owner?

Independent paintings conservator Elizabeth Leto Fulton will work on-site for several days during the exhibition, analyzing the works and offering her expertise on the condition and restoration needs.

On Thursday, July 18, noon-1:30 p.m., the gallery will also host a lunchtime discussion with Fulton on the field of art conservation, the common problems in painting conservation, and Fulton's assessment of selected items in the Lamont Gallery's collection.

Space is limited; reservations are required. RSVP by July 12, 2013 to gallery@exeter.edu.

"Collections take great care to manage and conserve, and there are ethical issues associated with taking objects into a collection initially, as well as with deciding when and why to remove objects from a collection," said Lauren O'Neal, director of the Lamont Gallery. "'Dust & Discovery' will kick off a longer-term project: to assess the gallery's collection, to put the holdings into a digital database and to make decisions about future additions to the collection so that the work can be used as a tool for students, faculty and researchers."